Gollancz Announces £1.99 eBook promotion for all 2014 debuts
One of the great joys of publishing is the discovery of a new writer. For the editor reading the submission, the growing feeling of excitement is like a happy virus that first infects the commissioning editor and then – in true evolutionary fashion – demands to be spread to others. Editorial colleagues, senior management, Sales, Marketing and Publicity all need to be won over, so that the entire company shares the excitement of the commissioning editor.
Only after all of those people in-house are brought on board can we begin the rewarding but tricky process of convincing you, the reader, that you should be as excited by the book as we are. The challenge, of course, is that we’ve read the book and know how good it is, whereas you have to trust us. There are any number of reasons for you to trust us – you’ve enjoyed the previous debut authors we’ve published, you’re a fan of the writer who’s given this new book a testimonial, you trust the instincts of the reviewer who’s seen an advance reading copy – but in the end, it all comes down to trust.
That makes it tricky at the best of times, and we can probably all agree that these are not the best of times. The financial climate is challenging, and money doesn’t stretch as far as it used to. If you have allowed yourself a certain amount to spend on books, we need to convince you to spend that money on a new author you may not like, rather than an old favourite you know you will. As we said: tricky at the best of times, but we think we can help.
We will publish a number of exciting debuts over the course of 2014 and we’re confident that all of them are wonderful new talents that you should read. We’re so confident, in fact, that we’re prepared to put our money where our mouth is and make it possible for you to try these books for less than the price of a cup of coffee.
We have decided to reduce the price of the eBook editions of Gollancz debuts this year to £1.99 for the week of publication. What’s more, we’ll make this price available for pre-order as well, so, in effect, if you decide to purchase one of these books at any time up to a week after it’s been published, you’ll do so for less money than a Saturday newspaper.
And the first of these fabulous debuts is coming up soon! On March 20th, we will publish Den Patrick’s hotly anticipated debut novel, The Boy With The Porcelain Blade, already likened to the works of both Scott Lynch and Robin Hobb. If you order it now – or at any time until a week after publication – you can do so for just a shiny £2 coin and have a penny left over to buy . . . er, whatever it is you can buy for a penny, these days.
Gollancz’s 2014 debuts are:
March 20: The Boy With The Porcelain Blade by Den Patrick
May 15: In Dark Service by Stephen Hunt
June 19: Barricade by Jon Wallace
July 17: The Seventh Miss Hatfield by Anna Caltabiano
August 14: The Incorruptibles by John Hornor Jacobs
Sept 18: The Relic Guild by Edward Cox
Please note that while the information adjusting the price of The Boy With the Porcelain Blade has been sent, individual retailers process data at different rates. If your eBook retailer of choice is not yet displaying the promotional price, please check back in a day or so.